The Beast of Blizzards
by Vardan
Summary: When a bored Troubadour decides to make some extra cash on what he regarded as a simple search request, he unintentionally involves himself and his fellow Guild members in a clash against a beast of frigid origin, and an apparent dislike for sentient life.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys and girls, my name is Vardan, and this is my first fic ever. I have started this account a few months ago, but i haven't been inspired to write some stories until recently, lets see how this goes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Etrian Odyssey nor any related titles.**

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><p>It was about 11 PM in the relatively isolated but well known town of Etria, at a pub widely known to the locals by the name of The Golden Deer, when a silver haired Troubadour was just finishing his last song for the night as some of the bars patrons applauded at him.<p>

"Thank you, Thank You, I'll be back tomorrow!" The Troubadour answered as he got down from his chair and went to pick up a nearby hat he put down on the floor before he started his two hour entertainment show, the hat contained a decent sum of Ental for a show like the one he just delivered.

"_Not bad, Not bad at all… but I could've made a bit more."_ The Troubadour thought to himself has he pocketed the Ental, picked up his lyre, and walked over to the bar.

Behind said bar was the owner, publican, and bartender of the pub, a middle aged, brown-eyed brunette that went by the name of Valerie, who immediately took notice of the troubadour as he walked towards the bar with a slightly downcast face.

"Looks like someone is a bit down today." She said as the Troubadour took a seat on one of the stools surrounding the bar. "Need a little something to cheer you up? Ale? Sap Wine? Anything at all?"

"No thanks, I'm good" The Troubadour said in response, if he had to be even more sincere, he would respond that he was bored due to the lack of exploration ever since his group entered the flesh walled hell that was known as the Claret Hollows. Sure the discovery of new creatures and objects was exiting, but the place was a literal horror in general, especially for the Medic, who was pushed to her limit both physically and mentally. He then remembered having to play various songs and encouragement tunes just to calm her down, he even recalled having to play a lullaby just to put her to sleep. "It's nothing that bad, I'm just disappointed at my earnings for the night…" he continued as he removed the plant stalk he had between his mouth and started twirling it around his fingers.

"Hey, it's not like it was the least amount of money you made in your life kiddo." Valerie answered as she grabbed a mug and started filling it with some Ale and passing it over to another man sitting at the edge of the bar.

The Troubadour sighed, "I guess you're right, after all, you did post that job on the board and we accepted it regardless of the pay, seems like my guild has a pretty strong sense of compassion."

He recalled the events of said request, the young man that worked as the clerk at the Rooster Inn had lost his pet Tree Rat during a walk through the labyrinth, and even though they eventually found him, the search for said pet was long and tiring, the fact that they only received a five Ental reward only added more insult to injury, he recalled that their Medic and Ronin had emerged from the ordeal with some pretty bad wounds.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." She answered at the Troubadour "Speaking about requests, I think I might have one that may interest you." She said as she produced a slip of paper from one of her pockets.

The Troubadour reached out and grabbed the slip from her hand, he then proceeded to look at the details of the request: **"I lost my arm to a blizzard-breathed dragon, but I'm the only one who's seen it. Prove it exists for me." Reward: 25,000 Ental.**

"_A blizzard-breathed dragon? Sure, I've seen a wyvern in the Labyrinth, but an actual dragon? Impossible, the Radha Hall would have issued a warning!" _The Troubadour thought to himself.

He was about to return the slip, until he set his eyes upon the reward once more, and then shifted his sight to the vague, but still important, details of the request. _"Wait a moment, the request says that he only wants proof of the dragon's existence, not that he wants it dead. Maybe this little request may be worth my time, and if I do find proof, I walk away with 25,000 Ental."_

"I'm interested" the Troubadour answered after a moment of silence, his downcast expression now replaced with a visible grin which Valerie took notice of.

"Ha-ha, look who's smiling over here" Valerie Said in return "The client usually visits the bar around midday, so why don't you come back tomorrow and ask him more about this dragon of his?"

"Sure, thanks for the tip" he answered in return as he stood up, picked up his lyre, placed the plant stalk back in his mouth, and walked out of the pub.

"See ya tomorrow kiddo!" he heard Valerie shout at him as he left the Golden Deer Pub, the "kiddo" comment was partially inaccurate, sure he was younger than her both in appearance and in age, but he was still 22 years old, no matter what anybody said about that.

He took a walk through the town square and through the streets until he arrived at a medium sized building in a quiet, but not so isolated, part of Etria. He was thankful that the guild somehow managed to move out of the inn and manage to establish themselves in there. "_I swear, the room price for a night's stay got progressively higher every day that went by, I guess that boy was trying to make some extra money or something... nah, he was probably scamming us and yanking our money away right under our noses." _He thought to himself as he knocked on the door.

He was then immediately greeted by a voice from the other side of the door. "Who is it?" Said the owner of the voice, in a really drowsy manner.

"Open up Vincent, it me, Micah" Answered the Troubadour as the man identified as Vincent proceeded to open the door.

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><p><strong>And there you have it, the first chapter in my first fic ever, be sure to review and give me some advice and point out errors if necessary.<strong>

**This is Vardan, signing out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the second chapter in my story. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I dont own Etrian Odyssey**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 2: Preparations<span>**

The first thing that Micah was greeted with as he entered the building was the sight of his longtime friend and guild mate Vincent, a 24 year old, blond, long haired, green clothed Survivalist who was working the night shift on the door.

"Welcome back pal." Vincent said as Micah entered the guild and headed for the kitchen and reached for a crabapple sitting in a fruit basket.

"Is anybody else up?" Micah asked as he took a bite out of the crabapple and proceeded to walk through the dining room and headed for hallway on the left side of the room.

"Just the both of us, and my shift is nearly over, go wake up Carran while you're at it would you?" answered Vincent as he got up from his chair and headed towards the kitchen as well.

"No problem." Micah answered from the hallway and continued his walk until he reached the second door on the left.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted with the view of his sleeping male guild mates, due to a lack of budget after buying the building and furnishing it, the men were forced to sleep in the same room. (They slept in different beds of course, although they couldn't get enough beds for all the members). In said room was the sleeping body of a black haired Alchemist named Lionel, who was sleeping in one of the two beds in the room, and sleeping on a bedroll was the guilds Landsknecht, Carran, who was proficient in the use of the axe.

"Wake up." Micah said as he nudged Carran with his lyre in an attempt to get him on his feet.

"Mmph, not now mom… I'm sleeping…" Carran mumbled as he shifted his body away from Micah's nudging. "Let me rest a little longer…"

Micah sighed and kicked him in the chest, even though Carran had a well-built body he still felt the pain of the blow and woke up in a flash, clutching his chest in pain.

"ARGH!" He exclaimed as he got up to confront Micah with a combination of anger and drowsiness on his face. "Why did you do that!" he continued as he rubbed his chest with his hand.

"You wouldn't wake up after I nudged you." Answered Micah, still eating up his crabapple. "Besides, Vincent told me your shift is almost starting." He continued. Somehow, Lionel managed to stay asleep through this whole ordeal.

"Ugh, why can't we get someone from the guard to patrol the area, didn't the hall say they had a watch group stationed around here?" Carran said as he grabbed a plated vest, a helmet, and his axe and started outfitting himself for his duty.

"Yes they did." Answered Micah as he started placing his bedroll down on an empty space in the room. "But the Hall said that they were giving part of the guard a month of leisure time, and unfortunately for us, the watch group was on that list." He continued as he placed his lyre on the floor next to his bedroll and grabbed a quilt.

"Ugh, whatever…" Carran said lazily as he finished outfitting himself with his gear and walked out of the room, mumbling to himself.

Micah could actually sympathize with him in this situation, ever since they moved out of the Inn and purchased the building, the guild had to compromise on money. Most, if not all of the Ental earned on requests went to maintaining the guild, and if there was some leftover money remaining it was split equally between the guild members. Said shares of money were usually meager, and were not enough to buy personal commodities for each of the members.

This led those who were of working age to find ways to get money, and in Micah's case, he got a job as an unpaid entertainer at the Golden Deer Pub, who only gained money via the tips from the bar patrons.

Micah sent these thoughts away as he put on his pajamas, fell onto the bedroll, and pulled the quilt over him.

"Tomorrow is the day I'm going to fix up my money situation, I just need to keep this job out of the guilds knowledge, and hope most of the variables favor me."

He then started to contrive a plan for the next day, he needed this money badly, and he had to avoid getting caught by his fellow guild mates.

He would rather not hear a two hour rant by Lionel, or be shackled and cuffed by the Dark Huntress Roxanne, he shuddered when he recalled the last time she angered her.

It was about three months ago, he had accidentally walked into her room while she was painting a portrait, a hobby that had remained unknown to the guild, and still remains unknown to everyone.

Everyone except Micah, and although she had quite the talent and he commended her for the work, she was still pretty angry at him.

Everything in his vision went black afterwards, when he opened his eyes he was cuffed, shackled, shirtless, and in front of a whip armed Roxanne.

He cringed when he remembered what happened next, deciding that it was pointless to continue remembering the incident, he shut his eyes and drifted to sleep.

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><p>He woke up at around 9:00 AM next day to a nearly empty room, the only other person present being Carran, who was still wearing his plated vest from last night.<p>

He changed out of his pajamas, grabbed his lyre, let the Landsknecht have his sleep, and walked to the dining room. He was then met with the face of Lionel and a blue haired Ronin by the name of Hanako, both of them eating up some peas and boar steak.

"Good day Micah." Lionel said upon noticing him. "Your food is over there." He continued as he pointed at a plate in front of an empty chair.

"Where are the rest of the guys?" Micah answered as he pulled out his chair and began to eat his steak.

"Most of them went out about an hour ago, although I think Carran might still be here." Hanako replied.

"Yeah, I saw him sleeping back in the room, I guess he's still drowsy after last night." Micah said.

"We are going to gather materials in the Sandy Barrens in a few hours, care to join us?" Lionel asked as he finished his food and got up from his chair.

"No thanks, I got plans for today." Micah answered nonchalantly.

"Are you sure, we could really use the help." Hanako said as he finished her food as well.

"I'm sure, but thanks for the offer anyway." Micah said in response.

Both the Alchemist and the Ronin began to walk out of the room, once Micah made sure they weren't around, he walked out of the dining room and walked towards the cellar door.

Once he was inside the cellar, he walked to a corner that contained a storage chest and a cabinet, he ignored the chest and went on to open the cabinet next to it.

Inside the cabinet were several rectangle shaped boxes and inside one of those boxes was an assortment of stones of different sizes, some colored purple, others colored copper.

He looked through the stones for a short moment before picking one of the copper colored stones up, it was in better condition than some of the other stones in the box, but it was not completely undamaged.

He put the box full of stones back in the cabinet and turned his attention to the chest beside it, he opened the chest and started rummaging through it, pulling out a plated vest, a talisman inscribed with a lightning volt, 3 bottles labeled: **"Medica: Grade II"; "Flame Oil; **and **"Sleep Gas"**, and a what appeared to be an ordinary thread.

He then closed the chest and proceeded to walk back up to the dining room, after making sure no one followed him, he walked out of the guild building and headed for the pub.

Upon arriving at the pub he was greeted by Valerie, who was filling up a mug with ale and passing it to a nearby customer.

"Hey there, you're a bit early, but the client should be arriving in a moment." She said to him has she picked up a glass from behind the bar. "Want something to drink?"

"No thanks." Micah said as he took a seat in front of the bar.

"_Let's just hope he shows up soon..." _He thought to himself.

As if someone had just read his mind and decided to bless him, a one armed man entered the pub and sat down at a nearby table, Micah was about to disregard the man. At least, until Valerie spoke up and said the following words: "That's the guy you're looking for."

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><p><strong>Once again, be sure to review and point out mistakes.<strong>

**This is Vardan, signing out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello once again, i am back, and i brought chapter 3 with me.**

**Anybody else Excited for Etrian Mystery Dungeon?**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 3: Details<strong>

The one-armed man ordered a mug of ale immediately upon sitting on the chair, judging from his lack of energy and emotion upon ordering the drink, Micah assumed that the man was either a problem drinker or had a very bad case of apathy. He silently hoped it was the former, if the man turned out to be apathetic, he would have a harder time finding out about the job.

Micah got off his stool and approached the man who, upon noticing him, let out a sigh. "What do you want?" He said in a rather depressive voice.

"I'm here about the job you posted." Answered Micah in a nonchalant voice, he had to handle this situation very carefully, any careless comment on his part may end up angering the man in front of him.

"You here to mock me about that?" The man said in a gruff voice as he looked towards the bar counter, waiting for his mug of ale.

"Not at all sir, as a matter of fact, I do believe your claim about a dragon roaming the labyrinth." Micah lied to the man, even though he was witness to several unusual sights in the maze below Yggdrasil, he refused to believe that a dragon roamed the area. If there was not a high reward at stake, he would have voiced his doubts, gotten up from the table, and walk away. However, with a 25,000 Ental reward on the table, he instead decided to listen to the man.

"Really now?" The man continued. "Hmph, very well, another go at making a fool out of myself won't hurt I guess…" He mumbled to himself as a waitress approached the two men and placed a mug of ale on the table, which the one armed man picked up.

The man then proceeded to tell Micah about the demise of his group during his last exploration of the labyrinth, his group was venturing through the first floor of the Sandy Barrens when they found a small hidden passage way that, upon passing through it, led to a staircase that ended in a different area of the last floor of the Azure Rainforest. While continuing through that area, they were soon attacked by a blue skinned, three headed, ice-breathing dragon. The group tried to fight back, but the battle ended soon enough and resulted in the death of all of the ex-explorers companions and the loss of an arm.

The man went on with the story for a little while longer, and then told Micah the exact location of the secret passageway in order to get to the battlefield. Micah thanked the man for the details, left the pub, and headed for the Geomagnetic Pole.

Unbeknownst to him, ever since he entered the pub he was being watched by a young, short, purple haired girl, who took off into the streets as soon as he arrived at the forest entrance.

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><p>Lynne was wandering around Etria along with Roxanne, she was grateful that Lionel let them take some time off exploring the labyrinth, the constant exploration of the newly discovered stratum took its toll upon her.<p>

"You look bored Lynne, wanna go somewhere?" Asked Roxanne. "The Pub perhaps?"

"I'm not old enough to drink…" Lynne replied.

"You can always have some Sap Wine, that thing is alcohol free you know." Replied Roxanne.

"It's hard to drink with my arms chained to my back…" Lynne replied. "Besides, I think you have your own reasons for going into the pub." She continued as she followed Roxanne to where she assumed was the pub.

"I just want to have a couple drinks, nothing special." Said Roxanne in return. "It's not like any of us have anything better to do, right?" She continued as the duo approached the pub shortly afterwards, confirming Lynne's assumption.

As they walked into the pub, Lynne noticed a familiar individual in the corner of her eye. It took her just a couple of moments to recognize the person as Micah. "_What is he doing here?" _Lynne thought to herself. _"His work does not start until eight o'clock, so why is he in the Pub at this time of day?"_

Her curiosity was further piqued when Micah walked over to a one armed man and started a conversation with him, seeing that Roxanne was ordering a drink and has not noticed Micah, she snuck away from the Dark Hunter, hid under a table, and did her best effort to eavesdrop on the ongoing conversation.

What she heard shocked her, the one-armed man's tale about a three headed dragon may have been a fictitious event to many people, but not to Lynne. Unlike Micah, she was open to the existence of dragons in the Labyrinth, weather the reason be that she was the youngest member of the guild, or the fact that she saw more unusual things in the maze under the tree.

Once Micah stood up from the table, Lynne emerged from her hiding spot, and began tailing Micah. It seemed that Roxanne had not noticed him, nor did the latter seem to give any indication to have noticed the former.

The Hexer decided against alerting her companion about Micah's presence and continued following the Troubadour as he walked down the streets of Etria. She soon took notice of Micah's bulging pockets, she assumed that they were filled with useless junk at first glance, she immediately corrected herself as he casually withdrew and inspected a copper colored stone.

Lynne immediately recognized the object that Micah withdrew from his pocket as a Grimoire Stone, she slowly started to realize Micah's intentions, but decided that jumping to a conclusion on the spot would not be very wise.

She soon noticed the outline of what appeared to be a vest under Micah's usual garment, fearing the worst, she continued to tail Micah.

It was when he arrived at the forest entrance and removed said garment that her worst fears were confirmed, underneath the mantle that Micah was wearing was a steel plated vest, and the Troubadour was walking to a Geomagnetic Pole in order to enter one of the Labyrinths deeper stratums.

She ran the facts through her mind, and immediately brought up an assumption, Micah was going into the Labyrinth, by **himself**, armed only with a sword, to fight an i**ce-breathing dragon.**

Not wasting any time, Lynne dashed back to the Golden Deer Pub, dodging and shoving through any passerby in her way.

She had to warn Roxanne about what Micah was planning to do, and try to stop the Troubadour from charging head on to what she assumed would be his demise.

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><p><strong>And there you have it, as always, Review and give me advice.<strong>

**This is Vardan, signing out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter 4, enjoy!**

**For those of you wondering about the length of the story, most of the chapters will be in the 1,000-2,000 word length, due to the fact that this fic is based on two quests in Etrian Odyssey Untold: TMG.**

**I would also like to thank Terron145 for his support.**

**Without further ado, here is chapter 4.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 4: Trees of Stone<strong>

A flash of white light overcame his vision as soon as he touched the Geomagnetic Pole, once the light faded away, the view of a lively green field was replaced with the view of a desolate, lifeless barren. True to its appearance, the Fourth Stratum of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth was named the Sandy Barrens by the citizens and explorers of Etria, the area was infamously known for its complex terrain, devious puzzles, and, most importantly, for being the home of the Forest Folk.

Micah walked out of the Geomagnetic Pole's area, walked towards the nearby staircase in order to use it as a starting point, and began walking to the location indicated by the one-armed ex-explorer. He did not bring the map along with him, said decision was both a wise and unwise choice. Wise because he would attract less suspicion from his guildmates, unwise because he would be walking though the labyrinth without any way of tracking his location. He was also venturing though the labyrinth without any backup, which meant he had to be careful in choosing which battles to fight and which to run away from, these many factors made this objective of his all the more risky.

He was carried through a sand current, walked for a short while through the path, and soon found the hidden passage way that the man was talking about. He walked through the gap, and was soon met with a wide room, a wide room filled with petrified trees.

"_Medusa Trees…"_ He thought to himself. _"I need to be careful…" _ He reminded himself of the dangerous powers of the trees in question, among their abilities was the capability to instantly petrify their victim, an experience that deserved a stronger description than "unpleasant".

Petrification could only be described as a state of physical death, with the exception of being mentally alive, and aware of your surroundings. Micah remembered the first time he was petrified as he walked through the maze of trees.

-.-.-.-.-

_He was in agony, he had looked directly into the eyes of the tree and paid dearly for it, for his body was petrified in an instant. He tried to move, but could not move his limbs. He tried to scream, but could not move his mouth._

-.-.-.-.-

One of the trees next to him suddenly sprang to life, Micah reacted out of instinct, and moved out of its line of sight. The tree remained immobile, but it watched the Troubadour, waiting for him to come close.

-.-.-.-.-

_He watched as Carran and Lionel engaged the tree, he wanted to help them, but it was all for naught. He was nothing but a mere statue of stone, able to think, but unable to act._

-.-.-.-.-

He kept walking through the miniature maze of trees, the F.O.E.s kept popping up as he walked, and he maneuvered around them as they appeared.

-.-.-.-.-

_He saw Amelie rush through his line of sight to help him, he knew he was being cured, but did not feel anything. He was in pain, he was panicking, and he was __**agonizing**__._

-.-.-.-.-

He was near the exit of the maze when he heard the sound of paws pounding the sand, he turned around, and was met with a group of two Flamerats.

-.-.-.-.-

_A familiar sensation of warmth overcame part of his body, within a matter of seconds, he could once again move his arm._

-.-.-.-.-

The first of the two Flamerats bared its fangs and charged towards the Troubadour, who responded by rolling out of the way, and prepared for an attack of his own. The Grimoire Stone in his pocket began to emanate power, said power coursed through Micah's body as he unsheathed his sword, and delivered his attack.

-.-.-.-.-

_Agony was replaced by relief as he regained control over his body, he however, did not rest. He picked up his lyre and began to play a song._

He rushed at raging speeds towards his aggressor and sliced the creature across the chest, the rat fell limp onto the sand with a thud, which was partially suppressed by the surface of the terrain.

-.-.-.-.-

_Filled with vigor, he played the Warriors Song, the tune of his lyre inspiring his comrades to bring the F.O.E. down._

-.-.-.-.-

The second Flamerat bared its fangs as well, but unlike its fallen brother, had his fangs covered in flame and charged at Micah. The Troubadour did not manage to dodge the attack, and was dealt a burning blow to the right arm, tearing off the sleeve of his clothes and piercing his skin.

-.-.-.-.-

_Lionel shot a Fire Formula at the tree, striking it straight in the eyes, causing it to stagger._

-.-.-.-.-

He retaliated at the rat by bringing his sword downwards in a diagonal slash, the strike connected with the Flamerat, bringing it down along with its partner.

-.-.-.-.-

_Carran threw his axe at the tree, striking it dead center, dealing the killing blow as the F.O.E. fell to the ground._

-.-.-.-.-

He did not collect anything from the oversized rodents, instead, he decided to exit the maze of trees.

Once he was at the end of the maze, he was met with the staircase to the Azure Rainforest, and walked up to the floor above.

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><p>Lionel sensed something was wrong, he was checking the storage cellar for materials to refine his formulas, and noticed that a plated vest was missing.<p>

He originally deduced that Carran took one of the vests during the night shift and forgot to return it, he was proven wrong when he replied that he indeed took a vest, but placed it back in the chest before returning to bed.

He soon decided that it was pointless to pursue the issue at that time, carried the materials to a table in the same cellar, and began to experiment.

Shortly afterwards, he heard voices upstairs. "Where is Lionel?!" "Oh hey Roxanne, what's up?" "I said, where is Lionel?!" "H-He is probably downstairs in the cellar… H-Hey where are you dragging me?!"

The cellar door burst open to reveal an angry Roxanne dragging a helpless Carran by the arm, standing behind them was Lynne, with her usual stoic expression on her face.

"I thought I gave you two the day off." said Lionel, slightly confused at what was happening.

"Forget about that, we have a problem!" answered Roxanne impatiently. "A problem that will haunt us for the rest of our lives if we don't do something about it!"

Carran, who was not understanding the situation, spoke up. "You gave them the day off?"

Multiple death glares were directed at him for his comment.

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><p><strong>Like always, review and point out any errors.<strong>

**This is Vardan, signing out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long wait, real life is taking some of my time away.**

**Anyway, here is Chapter Five, enjoy!**

**(Man, i really need to make better introductions.)**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 5: Assumptions<span>**

When he surfaced, he found himself in the Azure Rainforest, the Third Stratum of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. Unlike the barren and arid Fourth Stratum, this stratum was full of plant life, and was very abundant in water.

Micah soon realized that the one-armed man's story was proving true so far, but he still was not going to believe the existence of a dragon unless he found concrete evidence, so he took a good look at his surroundings as he walked.

Upon taking a look to his left, he managed to notice a platform like area in the middle of the body of water next to him, that, and a giant Manta Ray, with an extremely long tail.

Instead of feeling shocked, the Troubadour was curious, from what he had heard from Lionel the reports from the Hall stated that the monster known to the Forest Folk as Corotrangul was slain by a five man group led by a Highlander. His own guild confirmed this when they explored the floor themselves, so why was the creature alive, and how did it come back from the dead?

Micah decided not to pursue these questions and decided to focus on the manner at hand. He unsheathed his sword, put himself on alert, and continued his exploration of the hidden area.

He was met with a small room, he walked through it, and reached the doorway. Only to be met with another small room, he took a right, and walked once again through a doorway.

He chided himself for not bringing the map with him, if the following area was going to be a maze of small rooms, he would have trouble navigating through them without getting lost.

The Troubadour also assumed that his guildmates, or at the very least Lionel or Vincent, will find out eventually about his whereabouts. Vincent would probably let it slide due to their friendship, Lionel on the other hand would probably rant on his foolishness and reduce his next share, not that there was much to begin with in the first place.

He did not have much time to figure out how to go about his situation, as a creature popped out of the trees and attacked him. He narrowly dodged the attack, and confronted the beast.

The creature looked like a giant turtle, a giant turtle with an iron shell, and it looked like it was blocking his only way out of the room.

He bit back a curse, although the reptile in front of him was not as formidable as those he has encountered in the Claret Hollows, it still presented a danger to the Troubadour. Bracing himself for the worst, he readied his sword in a battle stance, and engaged the turtle.

Lionel was both angry and confused, he had just heard from Lynne that Micah had entered the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, and did not inform nor bring anyone with him.

Ordinarily, he would have assembled an impromptu group to retrieve the Troubadour and bring him back to the building. However, the fact that the Hexer had mentioned a dragon made the Alchemist doubt the actual danger his guildmate was in.

"He is going to die, we have to find him." Said Lynne, although she still maintained her stoic expression, a slight change in her voice could be heard. Even so, she still maintained her empty personality.

"What makes you think that he would go fight a dragon in the first place? Come to think of it, what makes you think there is a dragon roaming around in the Labyrinth at all?" Replied Lionel.

"I overheard Micah talking to a man in the pub about it." She replied. "He went to the Forest Entrance after that"

Lionel shifted his sight from the youngest member of the guild, and onto Roxanne, who was searching the storage chest for some Medica.

"Did you know about this?" He asked the Dark Hunter, who stood up upon being addressed. "More importantly, did you believe what she said about a dragon?" He continued, apparently dumbstruck that Roxanne, a no-nonsense, mature, albeit deviant woman, would believe the tale that the young guild member told her.

"She never mentioned the dragon before we arrived, besides, how was I supposed to know that he was at the pub?!" She replied, visibly annoyed.

Shortly after she said that, Lynne spoke up. "He was in the pub when we entered, and he was talking to a one-armed man." It was Roxanne's turn to look dumbstruck, she could not believe that she had not noticed a one-armed person.

Lionel, on the other hand, was even more intrigued. If the Hexer was talking about the same man that spoke about an ice-breathing dragon when he visited the pub days ago, then he knew that the danger was practically nonexistent. That, however, did not answer the most important question of all.

Why would Micah believe the man's tale? Lionel knew Micah was not a gullible man, so there must have been an ulterior motive to his actions.

It could not have been arrogance, the Troubadour was not boastful in any way, and the fact that the possibility of a dragon existing within the Labyrinth was practically nonexistent put the theory out of play.

Boredom was a likely possibility, Micah had not been participating in recent explorations, so it was probable that he could have decided on going on an exploration to kill time. He soon cast the second theory aside as he put his gauntlet on. If he was actually bored, he wouldn't have refused the offer to explore the Claret Hollows.

"Are we going out yet?!" Yelled Carran, who was outfitted in his magenta armor, had his axe slung over his shoulders, and was already waiting at the door, impatient to go into the Labyrinth.

"Hang on a moment would you?! We'll be right there!" Shouted back Roxanne, who had resumed searching through the storage chest.

Lionel then came up with the third, and most probable reason for Micah's actions: Greed. The silver-haired guild member had complained multiple times about the income each member had been receiving after requests and explorations.

Since the Labyrinth was nearing its complete exploration, Lionel had to take a course of action, so he began stockpiling a large portion of the Ental earned daily. This was due to the fact that Etria relied heavily on its tourism industry, once the labyrinth was fully explored, it was possible that a financial collapse could occur.

If the man that Micah talked to was offering a reward of some sort, then the Troubadour must have accepted it due to that reason, this brought up a new question: "How much was the man offering?"

Lionel decided to not ponder on the possibilities any longer, and walked out of the cellar.

"We're heading out now, are you ready?" He asked the two female guild members behind him.

Roxanne, who finished searching through the chest, replied with a simple "Yes". Lynne, on the other hand, gave the Alchemist a simple nod and began walking up the stairs.

"Finally, I was starting to… wait a moment, aren't we bringing a fifth member?" Asked Carran, confused on the fact that a four man team was assembled?

"Once we find Micah, he will join us as the fifth member of the group, whether he likes it or not." Answered Lionel.

The four man group arrived at the Geomagnetic pole shortly afterwards, and upon touching it, were warped to the Sandy Barrens.

* * *

><p><strong>Just in case you are wondering, this story take place from a Classic Mode guilds viewpoint, but takes place in the same universe as the Story mode.<strong>

**Anyway, like always, review, and point out errors.**

**This is Vardan, signing out!**


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